New Testament Bible Study for Daily Living

Chapter 14 of “God’s End-Time” coinciding with Chapter 14 of the Book of Revelation is a concise description of the whole Book of Revelation, the whole “revelation” given by Jesus the Christ.  

We Gentiles learn from the lives of the Israelites.  Gentiles and Jews are one family, one body (Eph. 2:15, 16; 3:5; 4:4,5).  Therefore this chapter tells what is going to happen to “all” people.  We are given warnings.  Everyone will have to choose their destination – “eternal” life with God or “eternal life with Satan.

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Revelation 14

  In Chapter 14 John is seeing the heavenly vision of the people in Chapter 7.  It concerns John’s writing of  “the things which will take place after this” (Rev.1:19, NKJV).  This chapter is a review of Chapter 7.  In the 7th Chapter, 144,000 Jews are sealed for God, 12,000 from each tribe of the people of Israel.  Now in Chapter 14 we see this 144,000 standing on Mt. Zion with the Lamb.  They are singing a new song that only they can learn.  Mt. Zion refers to the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22, NKJV).  It is the synonym for the earthly Jerusalem (Footnote, 14:1, NKJV).   “In the Old Testament a new song celebrated a new act of divine deliverance or blessing” (Footnote, Rev. 5:9, NIV Study Bible).  These 144,000 were redeemed from the earth.  They were raptured/resurrected before the wrath of God began.  They are of the multitude that came through the “great tribulation” (Rev. 7:9, 10, 14).   The Lamb is their Master, and they follow Him wherever He goes.  They are spoken of as being virgins, having not been defiled by women. “These were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb.  And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:4, 5).
 
  Is the numbering of the 144,000 just men, or are their women and children included?  Often in the Israelite tradition only the men were numbered with the understanding that women and children were present.  In the account of the feeding of the five thousand in Matt.14:21 only the men were numbered, but the women and children were given recognition (footnote, Matt. 14:21, NASB Study Bible).  “The Israelite’s biblical world  was patriarchal, with authority vested in the ‘father of the household’” (The Jewish

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Family, Cambridge Illustrated History, Religious, ed., John Booker, p.110).

The term “virgin” applies to male and female.  The “virgins” are symbolic of spiritual purity (see II Cor.11:2, NASB).  God told the Israelites they were not to marry foreign women (Deut. 7:3, 4).  These 144,000 kept their virginity by refusing to break God’s commandment.  Marriage that honored God was acceptable.  Redeemed believers will not compromise with evil.  They will reject false doctrine and refuse to worship the beast  

(Footnote, Rev. 14:4, N KJV Study Bible).
  After seeing the 144,000 John sees three different angels flying in the midst of heaven
crying out three separate messages.  The people are faced with the “great tribulation.”  At
this point God is warning everyone that a time of judgment is coming.  God always warns
before He acts (Amos 3:7).  His first warning is to all people who dwell on the earth.  
They are told to fear God, reverence Him, and worship Him (Rev. 14:7).  The second
warning is to tell the people that Babylon is fallen, that she is going to fall (Rev. 14:8).  In
Chapter 18:4 a description of  “Fallen Babylon” is given.  At this time a Voice from
heaven calls, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive
of her plagues.  For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her
iniquities” (Rev.18:5, NKJV).
  A third warning, perhaps a last warning, to all people is, “If anyone worships the beast
and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of
His indignation”(Rev. 14:9, NKJV).

  John at this time writes to the elect, reminding them of their need for patience, endurance, and faith during this time of great tribulation, great persecution.  A Voice

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from heaven says to him, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”   “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them” (Rev.14:13).  

  As mentioned before, the “great tribulation” is cut short in order that the “elect” might endure the greatest of trials.  A cosmic disturbance will occur (Rev. 6:12-14).  Then just before the wrath of God commences, all the elect will be raptured/resurrected to God

(Rev. 7:9-16).  This first reaping (Rev. 14:14-16) is a more detailed description of the actual rapture/resurrection of Chapter 7:9-16.  The second reaping (Rev. 14:17-20) is the resurrection (coming alive or coming out of the grave) of the non-believer after the believers reign with the Christ a thousand years (Rev. 20:5).  Those who participated in the Battle of Armageddon, Gog and Magog, will join Satan for one last battle against Jerusalem (Rev. 20:7, 8, NKJV).  As Satan is loosed from the abyss, Gog of the land of Magog and the dead of the other nations will be resurrected from their graves in order to fight along side of Satan.  God will immediately send down fire from heaven to devour them (Rev. 20:9 b, NKJV).  Satan is immediately thrown into the “lake of fire” and brimstone where the Beast and False Prophet are (Rev. 20:10, NKJV).  Then all non-believers having been resurrected (coming alive or coming out of the grave) will face God at the “great white throne judgment,” and ultimately, will be given over to the torment of the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).